Scottish Parliament

Written Answers

Tuesday 2 November 1999

Scottish Executive

Agriculture

Nick Johnston (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether under agricultural legislation, the following animal classes are classified as working animals and whether the construction of any housing for them is subject to dimensions for a permitted development: (a) Hunting Horses, (b) Clydesdale Horses, (c) Shire Horses, (d) Shetland Ponies, (e) Highland Ponies, (f) Eriskay Ponies, (g) agricultural animals working on the land or food production, (h) designated rare breeds close to extinction and (i) dogs used on the land for herding and hunting.

Sarah Boyack: Whilst working animals are not defined in agricultural legislation, the welfare requirements of livestock are protected under a range of legislation, including the Protection of Animals (Scotland) Act 1912. This enables the Scottish Executive to set standards for welfare and where appropriate space standards for individual animals of particular species. There are no statutory housing requirements for the animals which you have listed as working animals.

  Permitted development rights for agricultural buildings are contained in Part 6 of Schedule 1 to the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (Scotland) Order 1992. Part 6 specifies the conditions, including dimensions, for agricultural buildings benefiting from these rights. These conditions are drawn up with reference to likely effects of such a building on amenity and the physical environment, not the welfare needs of animals which may be housed in it.

Birds

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-318 by the Minister for Transport and the Environment on 14 July 1999, whether it will give details of how, in each year, the money given to the Royal Society for Protection of Birds (RSPB) was spent, who the money in each year was paid to, what were the performance targets of the RSPB in each of these years and whether these targets were achieved.

Sarah Boyack: Basic information on each individual project grant aided by SNH can be obtained from SNH’s publication Facts and Figures (a companion publication to its Annual Report) which is laid before Parliament. The level of information requested could, however, only be obtained at disproportionate cost. Projects grant aided by SNH must be consistent with SNH’s aims and objectives and grant applications are subject to normal grant conditions. These include the setting of specific targets, where appropriate, and their performance monitoring.

Education

Mrs Margaret Ewing (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what are the legal obligations of local authorities in relation to providing for the education needs of autistic children of all ages.

Mr Sam Galbraith: Education authorities have a duty under section 1 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 to secure the adequate and efficient provision of school education for the children in their area, including children with special educational needs. This includes children with autistic spectrum disorders.

  In addition, under section 60(2) of the 1980 Act, as amended, education authorities must establish which children belonging to their area, who are two years of age or over but under school leaving age, have pronounced, specific or complex special educational needs which require continuing review. They must open and keep a Record of Needs for any such child who, following assessment, is found to have such needs.

Fisheries

Euan Robson (Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive to list from 1990 the annual nephrops quotas in the North Sea for vessels of 10m or under including the tonnage initially agreed and any additions agreed thereto.

Mr John Home Robertson: Member State quotas of North Sea Nephrops were only introduced in 1994. Before then, all Member States fished against a single quota and so quotas were not allocated at UK level. From 1994, UK quota allocations to vessels in the 10m and under group were as follows:-

  


Year 


Initial Quota (tonnes) 



End-year Quota 
(tonnes) 


Difference 





1994 


396 


464 


68 




1995 


728 


604 


-124 




1996 


607 


584 


-23 




1997 


533 


621 


88 




1998 


541 


710 


169 




1999* 


541 


661 ^ 


120 ^ 




  * To date ^ Current allocation/difference

Food

Alex Fergusson (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that all local authorities within Scotland are purchasing British foodstuffs, where there is a choice, for use within their catering operations.

Mr Jack McConnell: Such action would not be appropriate . Procurement by local authorities is a matter for them, subject to any relevant legal requirements. Such requirements include, for example, European Community law which prohibits discrimination on grounds of nationality and prohibits measures which impede the free movement of goods.

Genetically Modified Crops

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive to list the location and size of sites in Scotland currently used for the production of genetically modified foods, and when consent was given for trials in each site.

Susan Deacon: No genetically modified (GM) crops are currently grown in Scotland either for human consumption or for use as animal feed.

  There are, however, a number of small-scale GM plots in Scotland for research and development activities. All sites have been approved under GMO Deliberate Release Regulations and locations were provided in the form of a written answer to Parliamentary Question S1W-1010. This information is also available on a public register which is held by the Health & Safety Executive, Belford Road, Edinburgh, or from the Scottish Executive, Rural Affairs Department; it is also on the DETR website.

Health

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will set up a body, similar to the MacFarlane Trust which exists to provide help to people in the haemophilia community who incur extra costs of living arising from HIV or AIDS as a result of having received contaminated blood products in the UK, to provide such support for those who have contracted hepatitis C in the same manner.

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will make representations to Her Majesty’s Government recommending that the remit of the MacFarlane Trust be extended to allow haemophilia sufferers in Scotland inflicted with hepatitis C as a result of receiving contaminated blood products in the UK to benefit from the work of the Trust.

Susan Deacon: The circumstances surrounding those who may have contracted Hepatitis C through treatment with blood products are tragic. I have met the Haemophilia Society to hear their concerns at first hand and officials within my Department are making enquiries into the circumstances surrounding this issue. I will be better placed to consider whether any further action on the part of the Scottish Executive is indicated when these enquiries are completed.

Health

Mr John Swinney (North Tayside) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when heat treatment procedures were introduced in Scotland to eliminate the hepatitis C virus in blood products.

Susan Deacon: The question is among a number of points which I have asked my Department to look at in relation to the safety of blood products from Hepatitis C. I also met with the Haemophilia Society to hear their concerns at first hand.

  I have noted the question and the points also raised in S1W-840, S1W-841 and S1W-842, and these will be taken into account in the Department’s enquiries. I will keep you informed of the outcome of these enquiries as soon as they are completed.

Health

Mr John Swinney (North Tayside) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what clinical indicators among Scottish haemophilia sufferers led to the introduction of work on heat treatment of blood products with a view to sterilising the hepatitis C virus.

Mr John Swinney (North Tayside) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether blood products carrying the risk of hepatitis C virus transmission were still in use in Scotland in 1987, when the use of such products was discontinued in England and Wales in 1985.

Mr John Swinney (North Tayside) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many haemophilia sufferers have been infected with the hepatitis C virus after receiving contaminated blood products: (a) manufactured in Scotland, and (b) imported from abroad.

Susan Deacon: I refer the member to the answer given to S1W-839.

Health

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will estimate the per capita funding for infertility care provided to each Health Board in Scotland.

Susan Deacon: Information on the spending by Health Boards on infertility care is not held centrally. Each Health Board determines the resources to be made available for infertility care for patients resident in its area from within its general allocation.

Health

Mr Andrew Welsh (Angus) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what is the number and percentage of staffed beds currently classed as high technology beds at Ninewells Hospital, Dundee, Perth Royal Infirmary, and Stracathro Hospital, Angus.

Susan Deacon: The Intensive Care Unit (ITU) and High Dependency Unit (HDU) staffed beds in Tayside are as follows:

  



ITU 


HDU 


ITU as % of all 
beds 


HDU as % of all 
beds 




Ninewells Hospital 


8 


6 


0.86 


0.64 




Perth Royal Infirmary 


3 


2 


0.9 


0.6 




Stracathro Hospital 


0 


0 


n/a 


n/a

Health

Mr Andrew Welsh (Angus) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when the former Angus NHS Trust first discovered that 14 out of 16 hospital buildings had a high risk of legionella, whether staff and patients who were in areas of high legionella risk were made aware of this and, if not, why not.

Susan Deacon: I understand that the former Angus NHS Trust initiated a risk assessment of the effectiveness of legionella control arrangements and received a detailed Audit and Risk Assessment Report in March 1996. The Report indicated there were no management systems in place to oversee and/or monitor the control of legionellosis. As a result, the Trust introduced robust management systems and an external audit system. The Trust’s management arrangements were subject to audit by The Health & Safety Executive in March/April 1998 who were satisfied with the result.

  The risk assessment focused on management arrangements for overseeing and/or controlling legionellosis. Expert assessment concluded that operational management of the risk did not require the closure of any premises to which patients had access and therefore information was not generally made available to staff and patients.

  I understand there have been no instances of legionella in premises of the former Angus NHS Trust area.

Health

Shona Robison (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it intends to take with regard to cancer beds closing in Ninewells Hospital Dundee and whether these closures are due to staff shortages.

Susan Deacon: The Tayside University Hospitals NHS Trust has advised that there have been no cancer bed closures at Ninewells Hospital and that there are no nurse shortages in the cancer service.

Health

Shona Robison (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the £10 million deficit in Tayside NHS Trust has resulted in any staff shortages in Ninewells Hospital, Dundee.

Susan Deacon: The Tayside University Hospitals NHS Trust has advised that there are currently no staff shortages at Ninewells Hospital.

Health

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will take action to prevent private firms from setting up accident and emergency units in Scotland.

Susan Deacon: The Scottish Executive is unaware of any proposals from private firms to set up accident and emergency units in Scotland.

  The independent health care sector is currently regulated under the provisions of the Nursing Homes Registration (Scotland) Act 1938. Under these provisions Health Boards, as registering authorities, determine whether the standards of care proposed and provided, are of an acceptable standard.

Health

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether minimum standards are in place for food quality in hospitals in the Lanarkshire Health Board area, how these standards are monitored and whether they are being met.

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether minimum service standards are in place for cleaning contracts in Lanarkshire Health Board, what arrangements have been made to monitor these standards and whether these minimum standards are being met.

Susan Deacon: Lanarkshire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust and Lanarkshire Primary Care NHS Trust both have service specifications for the quality of food to be supplied to patients, and for their cleaning services. These are monitored regularly. Further information is available from Lanarkshire Health Board.

Information

Ms Margo MacDonald (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to publish an annual self-assessment of its administrative record and, if so, how such a report would be distributed.

Donald Dewar: The Executive has set out to the Parliament and to the people of Scotland its legislative programme, its programme for government and its expenditure plans. The Executive will report regularly on its record in delivering on these plans. Its reports will be made to Parliament and made widely available to others.

Justice

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive on how many occasions in each year from 1994 to 1998 charges of dangerous driving have been taken to court.

Mr Jim Wallace: The available information is given in the table below.

  Persons called to Scottish court where the main offence was dangerous driving, 1994 -1997

  


1994 


1995 


1996 


1997 




869 


860 


931 


1,020 




  The 1998 statistics are not yet available.

Justice

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive on how many occasions drivers have been found guilty, or have pled guilty, to a charge of death by dangerous driving in each year from 1994 to 1998.

Mr Jim Wallace: The available information is given in the table below.

  Persons with a charge proved in Scottish courts where the main offence was causing death by dangerous driving, 1994 -1997

  


1994 


1995 


1996 


1997 




16 


20 


19 


16 




  The 1998 statistics are not yet available.

Justice

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive on how many occasions in each year from 1994 to 1998 charges of death by dangerous driving made by the police have been reduced to careless driving by the prosecution services.

Lord Hardie: Case information is not recorded in a manner which allows the statistics sought to be extracted.

Justice

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive to specify, in the latest year for which figures are available and in each of the previous three years the number of (a) road accidents in Scotland which have caused the death of one or more people; (b) prosecutions for (i) causing death by dangerous driving; (ii) causing death by careless driving while under the influence of drink or drugs; (iii) reckless driving; and (iv) careless driving, arising from such accidents, and (c) prosecutions in each of the foregoing categories in which the accused either pled or was found guilty and (i) a custodial sentence was imposed and (ii) the charge was reduced to a lesser one; and what was the range of non custodial sentences imposed in each of the categories referred to in (b) above.

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive in how many incidents involving a road death drivers have been charged with careless driving, in how many of these did the driver plead guilty, and how many were found guilty in each year from 1994 to 1998.

Mr Jim Wallace: The number of road accidents in Scotland which resulted in one or more fatalities totalled 361 in 1995, 316 in 1996, 340 in 1997, and 339 in 1998.

  The figures given in the table below relate to prosecutions where the main offence was either causing death by dangerous driving, or causing death by careless driving while under the influence of drink or drugs. Information is not available centrally on other prosecutions arising e.g. careless driving arising from fatal road accidents, or on cases where the charge involved was changed at any stage of the proceedings. Persons proceeded against in Scottish courts for selected driving offences, by outcome, 1994-1997.

  


Year of 
acquittal / sentence by outcome 


Causing death by 
dangerous driving 


Causing death by 
careless driving while under the influence of drink or drugs 





1994 

 
 



Charge not proved 


5 


- 




Custody 


8 


- 




Community service order 


4 


- 




Probation 


1 


- 




Fine 


3 


- 




Other 


- 


- 




TOTAL 


21 


- 




1995 

 
 



Charge not proved 


9 


- 




Custody 


12 


2 




Community service order 


4 


- 




Probation 


2 


- 




Fine 


2 


- 




Other 


- 


- 




TOTAL 


29 


2 




1996 

 
 



Charge not proved 


4 


- 




Custody 


13 


- 




Community service order 


4 


- 




Probation 


1  


- 




Fine 


1 


- 




Other 


- 


- 




TOTAL 


23 


- 




1997 

 
 



Charge not proved 


1 


- 




Custody 


14 


3 




Community service order 


- 


1 




Probation 


- 


- 




Fine 


1 


- 




Other 


1 


- 




TOTAL 


17 


4

Justice

Scott Barrie (Dunfermline West) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many young people under the age of 16 years old have been accommodated in adult prisons or police cells due to a lack of other suitable accommodation in each of the last three years.

Mr Jim Wallace: The number of young people under the age of 16 years old who have been accommodated in adult prisons on unruly certificates in each of the past three years is as follows:

 1996 (April to December)   23 1997 (January to December)   15 1998 (January to December)   11 (Provisional figure)   

  Detention Of Children In Police Cells

 1996-971997-981998-99  583*   704*   620*   

  *Figures do not include those for Grampian Police, who do not separately record the number of children detained in police cells. In addition, the figure for 1996-97 does not include the number of children detained in police cells by Lothian & Border Police as this information was not available.

Justice

Scott Barrie (Dunfermline West) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to establish a national young offenders (14 to 21 year olds) strategy.

Mr Jim Wallace: There are no plans to establish a national young offenders strategy. However, the Executive has signalled the importance it attaches to addressing the behaviour of young offenders in supporting a number of innovative projects to identify what works in tackling persistent offending and preventing future offending. Young offenders have been identified as a priority group within the National Planning Statement for Criminal Justice Social Work Services for the period 1999-2002 and in July this year new funding bids worth a total of £183,000 from local authorities were approved.

  The Scottish Prison Service is reviewing its policy for the management of young offenders and hopes to consult on its proposals around the turn of the year.

Rural Affairs

Alex Fergusson (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when it intends to establish an appeals procedure for farmers following the Minister for Finance’s confirmation in the debate on expenditure plans on 6 October (Official Report Column 1036) that funds will be available.

Ross Finnie: A review of the possible options for an independent appeal mechanism is currently underway. Details of the proposed arrangements will be issued for consultation by the end of the year. While it would not be appropriate to anticipate the legislative process, it is hoped that the new arrangements would be in place to apply to applications made in the IACS 2000 scheme year.

Scotland Office

Mr Keith Raffan (Mid Scotland and Fife) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the First Minister was consulted by the Secretary of State for Scotland in regard to the cost of setting up offices and employing additional staff for the Scotland Office.

Donald Dewar: Yes.

Transport

Margaret Jamieson (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what is the length of time it takes to process a traffic regulation order to change the speed limit on A, B and C roads and what plans it has to reduce this period.

Sarah Boyack: The procedure for making traffic orders by local authorities relating to local roads, regardless of classification, is prescribed in The Local Authorities’ Traffic Orders (Procedure) (Scotland) Regulations 1999. The procedure for making traffic orders relating to trunk roads is prescribed in The Secretary of State’s Traffic Orders (Procedure) (Scotland) Regulations 1987.

  The 1999 Regulations introduced a requirement for local authorities to complete the traffic order process within two years from the date on which the notice of proposals is first published. There is no corresponding requirement in the 1987 Regulations. There are no plans to amend either set of Regulations.

  Information is not available centrally on the time taken to process local authority traffic orders. Speed limit orders in respect of trunk roads are normally completed within 22 weeks. In both cases, the procedures are designed to ensure that the interests of all those likely to be affected by the proposals are properly taken into account. The period required to complete the procedure depends on the complexity of the proposals and the number of representations received.

Water

Ms Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to reform the law relating to water fluoridation.

Susan Deacon: There are no present plans to do so but the existing legislative framework will be kept under review to ensure it remains appropriate.